Modern information processing environments are experiencing a trend from the traditional client-server model to an application-server model. While the client-server model categorizes information resources as services to a client, an application-based architecture allows each application to perform specific and/or specialized portions of processing before handing a transaction or data stream off to a successive processing tier. An application-server model may exhibit a so-called multi tier arrangement or architecture. In a multi-tier arrangement, each tier is responsible for performing a particular aspect of processing. Tiers communicate by passing or transmitting data, often according to a predetermined protocol or data structure. A business transaction is therefore passed between tiers, which may be successive layers or nodes in the processing stream. Accordingly, each tier “layer” receives a transaction from a preceding layer.
Each tier may perform particular functions, such as database queries, XML parsing, tunneling, protocol mapping, network transport, or GUI (graphical user interface) operations, for example. At each tier, attributes of the transaction or data stream are communicated to the next tier. However, certain attributes may be suppressed or omitted if those attributes are deemed unnecessary at the successive tier. Therefore, in a multi-tier arrangement, while scaling, information scope, and function consolidation may be improved, certain attributes of the transaction or information stream may not be propagated as readily as in conventional client server arrangements. Operations or functions that expect certain attributes available at a particular layer may encounter difficulty (i.e. unavailability) relying on that attribute.